Video 5:36
Stay or Go

More than 2000 homes were destroyed in last year's bushfires and a year on many people are still deciding whether to rebuild or move on and start again.

Transcript

JOSEPHINE CAFAGNA, PRESENTER: A year on from the Black Saturday bushfires that devastated Victoria, Stateline comes to you from one of the many towns that suffered through the firestorm. 173 people died that February day. We're at the National Park Hotel in Kinglake. Unlike a year ago, today it's wet and misty.

Immediately after Black Saturday, many people were determined to go back and rebuild their lives and their communities. But the task has turned out to be too big for some, both emotionally and practically. Cheryl Hall returned to Flowerdale to speak to two families she met a year ago.

HELEN PETROVSKI, FORMER FLOWERDALE RESIDENT: We burnt last year's calendar. We said goodbye to 2009.

PETER PETROVSKI, FORMER FLOWERDALE RESIDENT: It wouldn't burn. All the bad memories and everything that's happened, can only go forward. I thought, "No, get rid of it all and start fresh."

CHERYL HALL, REPORTER: Helen and Peter Petrovski are proud survivors of a fire that destroyed much of Flowerdale. Despite their initial determination, they've decided not to go back. Instead they're renting a house and planning to buy in a new housing estate in Mernda, near Whittlesea.

HELEN PETROVSKI: We've met some wonderful friends and neighbours along here and it's close to everything. And it's too scary to go back up there, way too scary.

CHERYL HALL: I think a year ago, Peter, you said there was no way you were not going back and you definitely wanted to rebuild because you didn't want the fire to beat you. What's changed? Have you changed your mind?

PETER PETROVSKI: I've sorta had to lean towards where the rest of the family's happy. My heart's still over there.

CHERYL HALL: Steve and Viv Phelan own the most prominent business in Flowerdale. They lost their home in the fire, but managed to save the historic pub, thanks to a lot of help from locals.

STEVE PHELAN, FLOWERDALE PUBLICAN: Business has been a real rollercoaster.

VIV PHELAN, FLOWERDALE PUBLICAN: We had no staff.

STEVE PHELAN: People had left the mountain, you know. And so they weren't around to do business with us.

CHERYL HALL: The hotel became the town's refuge. A place to grieve for the 13 people who died in Flowerdale and a meeting place for those wanting to rebuild.

The Phelans will decide after Sunday's anniversary whether they want to continue running the seven-day-a-week business. Whether they sell up or not, they've decided to stay in the community.

STEVE PHELAN: There's a lotta houses in the area which is really promising. We're getting closer to ours. Hopefully start movement on that in the next couple of weeks.

VIV PHELAN: Give it little while, a few years maybe, you know, I think Flowerdale will end up being better than it was. I think, you know, with the houses that are going to be built they're gonna be better houses than the little shacks that were there that were full of asbestos. I think there'll be younger families that will be able to afford to come up and live up in Flowerdale.

CHERYL HALL: The Black Saturday fires destroyed more than 2,000 homes and damaged 1,500 more in 78 communities. A year later, more than 1400 building permits have been approved by councils.

GEOFF GILLON, WHITTLESEA BUILDER: The shire's been good. They've issued planning permits pretty much over the counter. Insurance companies have slowed it down a fair bit, working out settlement prices and things like that. So, a majority of people probably spend six months sorting out the insurance policies. And then there's a delay in getting builders because all the builders are flat out. Our neighbour up the road here, he's looking at nearly a year before he can get his house built.

CHERYL HALL: Jeff Gillon is lucky. He is a builder.

GEOFF GILLON: People have protected themselves and they've cleared dangerous trees around their properties, and of course they're entitled to do that. So, that's the sort of clearing that's been done. But there's been no comeback at that.

CHERYL HALL: Have many people decided not rebuild?

GEOFF GILLON: There's been a fair majority of people. Initially after the fires, a lotta people sold their blocks of land and moved and bought property in Whittlesea. Others have moved away from the area. But then we've had new people come into the area. So, it's sort of balancing out.

CHERYL HALL: Things have moved more slowly for people living at the temporary village set up in Flowerdale's sports reserve.

TONY MCEWAN, MANAGER TEMPORARY VILLAGE: There aren't any families yet that have rebuilt and moved into their homes. One family's moved into public housing, a nice new home built in the local town. Another family tomorrow will move into their shed, a shed decked out to live in. And another lady who desperately wanted to rebuild her dream home, but it all became a bit too difficult, has purchased one of the few existing homes in Flowerdale. And in February, she'll move into that. For some, deciding whether to stay in the community or leave the community or leave the country in some cases, that's taken time.

STEVE PHELAN: What would be best in the next year is that people have a good luck at where they're at, where they're situated. And if they haven't built their home or they're not going to build their home, they should make their decisions to move on or to do whatever. So we can get back our cricket fields and our way we were before and, you know, the disaster's hit, but it's no different to what's going on overseas at the moment. You've got to get back on your feet and just start going.